Movie star was a Harlandale graduate first

By David Hinojosa :
July 22, 2014

Harlandale alumnus and actor Jesse Borrego (center) with the 80's team during the 2014 Harlandale Alumni Basketball Tourney at Harlandale Middle School July 13. The three day tournament featured 15 men's teams and 5 women's teams.

Hinojosa

Over the years I've seen actor Jesse Borrego play various gang members and even the role of an aspiring dancer. But, until two weeks ago, I had never seen him play point guard.

That changed when I attended the Harlandale Alumni Basketball Association Tournament. I was standing by the gym's entrance when he came crashing through.

“Sorry I'm late, guys,” Borrego told his teammates, a squad comprised of Harlandale alums who graduated in the 1980s.

Borrego is a 1980 Harlandale graduate. One month shy of his 52nd birthday, he was the oldest of the tournament's estimated 400 participants.

After hastily changing into this basketball shoes and uniform, Borrego took part in the final moments of his team's warm-up. He didn't start, but soon came off the bench and played point guard when he was out there.

It was truly a surreal moment for me. I can't say I ever envisioned interviewing Borrego after a basketball game.

I've followed his career through the years in movies such as “Blood In, Blood Out” and “Mi Vida Loca” (ah, Mousie and Sad Girl). He was on one of my favorite television shows, “American Family,” which starred Edward James Olmos and aired on PBS. I first remember him from the television show in the mid-1980s, “Fame,” which was a spin-off from the popular movie.

I wanted to tell him that some of my friends used to call me, “Miklo,” the character with the light complexion played by Damian Chapa in “Blood In, Blood Out.” I decided to keep that to myself. So, to see him playing in that quaint gym was quite the treat.

Borrego never played basketball at Harlandale.

“I tried out for the basketball team, but I didn't make it,” Borrego said. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I got back into drama, which I had always excelled at since Columbia Heights (Elementary) and Leal Middle School.”

Yeah, that did work out for him.

After living in California for most of his career, Borrego moved back to San Antonio two years ago. He became aware of the tournament through his cousin Eriq Perez, a 2005 graduate who had asked Borrego to watch him play.

Borrego was approached by the tournament's director, John Dominguez, about possibly dropping by and handing out awards. However, Borrego had something different in mind: “Well, wait a minute. I want to play.”

So Borrego was placed on the 1980s team. Although he never played basketball at Harlandale, Borrego regularly played pickup basketball when he was in college at Incarnate Word and during acting gigs in California and New York.

“I became an aficionado of the game,” Borrego said. “As my nephew got older, I competed with him and got into leagues with him.”

His older sister Marina was a three-sport star (volleyball, basketball and track) and his younger brother James played basketball at Harlandale. Borrego said he's always had a natural connection with Harlandale athletics through them. Like many who participated in the tournament, it gave Borrego a chance to reconnect with the community where he grew up.

“It was easy to come back and help out the alumni association here, play my favorite game and share a moment with everyone,” Borrego said. “We are all here together. We all struggle in the day to day.”

During our conversation, Borrego told me he has still been able to get acting work although he no longer lives in California. He recently worked on the television series “From Dusk Till Dawn,” which is shown on Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network. I mentioned to him that my friend Alvaro Rodriguez (Robert's cousin) is a writer on that show. Alvaro just so happened to write the episode Borrego was in. We talked about that and the Valley, where Alvaro and I are from.

It certainly is a small world. How else do you get to see a movie star play basketball in a middle school gym?